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Ask HN: How many of you webdevs got degrees in EE/CE or similar?

5 points by ecubed ↗ HN
I'm currently a junior in college studying Electrical Engineering with a focus in Computer Architecture and Organization, but ever since I was young I've had a passion for designing and developing websites and have become pretty skilled at both backend development and front-end design.

While I fully intend to continue my study and get a masters in computer engineering, I'm seriously considering going into web development as a career or starting my own web-related tech business after that. I was wondering how many of you who do development professionally (design, programming, or both) got EE/CE degrees? Does knowing the underlying principles of the computer hardware or languages like assembly and c (in addition to ruby/php) give any advantages in professional web programming? Is the pay comparable over the short and long term?

10 comments

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Osiris
I do not. I have a degree in International Relations. My experience with PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS is completely self-taught. I can't talk to the pay level, but I believe I get paid similarly to other developers with a similar experience level.

Having said that, the key is skills and experience more than education. However, an education can help you build skills that you may not develop otherwise.

ecubed
Thanks for the feedback. Have you run into any problems or topics in the field that couldn't be self taught?
steventruong
This clearly depends entirely on the individual but majority of my friends are self taught (most of which never majored in EE, CS, or equivalent or even took a single computing class of any kind). They have yet to run into any issue building what they want with any barrier from what I've seen. Not sure if this answer helps but hopefully it does.
NonEUCitizen
If you're already a junior, I suggest you stick it out (I'm glad you do say you intend to continue).

It will pay off in the long term if you know how computers work down to the transistor level. For example, in addition to "normal" websites, you'd be able to build a website like this:

http://www.visual6502.org/JSSim/index.html

leeny
For what it's worth, I run hiring at a startup, and, based on some running stats I've kept, historically, candidates with EE degrees have not performed any worse in interviews than candidates with a more traditional CS background.
ldargin
I got a BSEE back in 1993, and have since moved into web development, enterprise development, and database administration. Basically, I recommend moving into CS if you plan to develop professionally. Knowing how electronic things work is nice, but I hardly ever use that knowledge.
ecubed
Is the web development salary comparable to what you'd be getting paid at a similar level hardware-centric ee/ce job?
ldargin
Yes, its comparable, about the same.
[dead] ecubed
Is the web development salary comparable to what you'd be getting paid at a similar level hardware-centric ee/ce job?
okjake
I studied a BEng EE course here in the UK, and got a job shortly after graduating a couple of years ago as a junior dev.

As others have said, the important thing is really just having something to show - I had this from taking on a little extra work while I was studying for some extra cash.

I think learning C and later C++ was really useful, though this may be a personal thing, I guess it was my first exposure to real programming. I often catch myself thinking how things would be done in C++.

Personally I dont feel that not having a CS degree is a drawback, I think there are some benefits to coming to the field from a different angle. But take this with a pinch of salt, I'm still early in my career, and web development is a broad term.